Mexicans and Americans have more in common than either cares to admit. Mexicans are worried about drug violence in their country, think the United States is responsible because of its large appetite for illegal narcotics, and want their neighbor to stop exporting guns into Mexico, which turn up in the hands of drug traffickers. Americans are worried about illegal immigration into their country, think Mexico is responsible because it doesn’t provide enough jobs for its people, and want their neighbor to stop exporting migrants into the United States.

Such is the major dysfunction of the U.S.-Mexico relationship. Neither wants to take responsibility for its failures, and each finds it convenient to blame the other for its problems.

This dynamic is not lost on Arturo Sarukhan, Mexico’s ambassador to the United States, who recently sat down with the editorial board of The San Diego Union-Tribune.

I asked the ambassador about the rocky marriage between the United States and Mexico, and whether anything could be done short of counseling to smooth things out.

“I think that a lot of the mutual recrimination is being thrown out the side,” Sarukhan said.

“You have a president in Mexico, Felipe Calderon, who … has plainly and equivocally stated that Mexico has a responsibility in preventing people from crossing the border – by creating jobs, creating opportunities, de-incentivizing those crossings from taking place. And you have … the Obama administration, which has said, yes, we have a responsibility in shutting down the flow of guns going into Mexico.”

Not so fast. This isn’t just about Mexico creating jobs so people don’t have to go north to feed their families.

It should certainly do that, but not because it owes it to the United States. Mexico owes it to its own citizens – including the millions of migrants living abroad who send home more than $20 billion annually in remittances.

What many Americans would like is for Mexico to use stepped-up enforcement on its side of the border to physically prevent its people from illegally entering the United States.

After all, the Mexican government is asking that U.S. law enforcement agencies do more to prevent guns from entering Mexico by stepping up efforts to indict gun-runners headed south. Isn’t it fair to ask Mexico to show reciprocity on immigration?

“I don’t think there’s a quid pro quo in that regard,” Sarukhan said.” The bodies are piling up on our side of the border, our people are getting killed because of drug consumption in this country. I don’t think we should strike a deal – `you stop the guns and we stop immigrants.’ First of all, I don’t think immigrants are a threat to the national security of the United States.”

In fact, Sarukhan insisted, if anything, the continued illegal immigration of Mexicans into the United States threatens Mexico.

“Our loss is your gain,” he said. “If Mexico can’t hold on to 300,000 men and women who on average have been crossing the border into the United States without papers every year, we’re losing bold, entrepreneurial, talented people. And Mexico will not be able to grow if we can’t hold on to those women and men.”

Still, Sarukhan said, the Mexican Constitution does allow “for the free transit of Mexicans within Mexican territory.” Of course, he noted, the document also states “that Mexicans must enter and exit Mexico through designated ports of entry.”

So Mexico is fine with people going into the United States illegally as long as they do it in an orderly fashion?

Absolutely not, Sarukhan said.

“Mexico needs to take a deep look at how it can ensure that every single Mexican that crosses the border into the United States does so legally,” he said, “whether because he’s crossing through a designated port of entry, because he’s carrying a passport, because he’s carrying a visa, or because he’s participating in the temporary worker program in the United States.”

Good luck with that, neighbor.

Besides the logistical difficulties of securing the border, there are the angry elites in Mexico City who flat-out resent that los americanos would dare ask them to keep their people penned in as if they were behind the Iron Curtain.

Even so, Sarukhan is optimistic that a new and better relationship between the United States and Mexico is just around the corner, despite what he called “the loonies” who want to pit one country against the other.

“We have them in this country,” he said, “and we have them in my country. It runs in the best families.”

Join the Conversation

We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. Although we do not pre-screen comments, we reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions.

If you see comments that you find offensive, please use the “Flag as Inappropriate” feature by hovering over the right side of the post, and pulling down on the arrow that appears. Or, contact our editors by emailing moderator@scng.com.